Chapter 17: 4th Cycle's First Day

Ah.

I opened my eyes.

A familiar feeling.

"Another regression, it seems."

I recalled the last moments of my past life.

Resisting until the very end...

"Finally, I have ascended."

Yes, I'm fully conscious now.

In that last moment, I certainly...

"I reached the peak!"

Overwhelmed with excitement, I looked up at the sky, oblivious to my surroundings, and shouted.

"Finally! At last!!!"

I had reached the long-coveted peak!!!

Buzz!

A familiar sound echoes.

Jeon Myeong-hoon, a face I haven't seen in a while, is there.

But I didn't even glance in his direction, just closed my eyes again.

Swoosh!

Jeon Myeong-hoon's hand cuts through the air towards me.

Feeling his movement, I awakened 'that sensation' I had reached just before dying.

'I can see it!'

Even with my eyes closed, it's vivid.

A red trajectory was aimed at my cheek.

With my eyes still shut, I dodged Jeon Myeong-hoon's slap with the optimum movement.

"This guy dodged it?"

Whoosh, whoosh!

Jeon Myeong-hoon swung his hand several more times, but I, still with closed eyes, dodged every one of his strikes with minimal movement.

'I can see it. Jeon Myeong-hoon's next move. The direction of his hand. It's cearly visible.'

In the past, I could dodge someone like Jeon Myeong-hoon without even looking, but that was all based on decades of martial arts training and 'predicting' where he'll strike.

But now, it's different.

The red threadlines reveal his path.

Whether my eyes are open or closed, these threadlines are vividly present.

This is not 'prediction,' but more like 'premonition.'

'Is this the [vision] of a peak master?'

I finally understood why a first-raate master, even when outnumbering the enemy, could never defeat a peak master.

'It's visible. The direction and trajectory of attacks by inferior first-rate warriors are clearly visible. How could they win if their attacks can't even touch a peak master?'

To confront a peak master, a first-rate warrior would need to attack with dozens of people in a swarm strategy.

'Setting aside the direction and trajectory of the attack.'

I set my determination and faced Jeon Myeong-hoon, who was rushing towards me.

At the same time, the red lines indicating his trajectory disappeared, and my vision was filled with blue lines.

Face, shoulders, chest, arms, flanks, stomach, lower abdomen, pelvis, legs, knees, feet.

Blue lines densely targeted dozens of spots.

Instinctively, I knew.

These blue lines indicate the opponent's vulnerabilities and the optimal path for my attack.

The gap in combat skills between me and Jeon Myeong-hoon must be so vast that so many vulnerabilities are exposed.

'So that's it. The red and blue back then.'

"Ah, a master of Three Flowers. The first I've seen in this city besides myself."

"Three Flowers aren't common. Most live their lives only in red and blue. I, too, haven't met a master like you in a long time."

A conversation between Kim Young-hoon and Pal Jik-tae, supreme elder of the Qia River sect, during my second regression.

Pal Jik-tae indeed mentioned 'red and blue' back then.

At the time, I didn't understand a word, but now I do.

'He was talking about this 'vision' that peak masters see.'

The red line to read the opponent's attack.

The blue line for the optimal attack.

This dual-colored world, where one can exchange gaps, was the world of peak masters, the 'red and blue' world he mentioned.

When I reached this conclusion.

Drip―

'What?'

I suddenly felt a nosebleed.

At the same time, I felt 'pain.'

It hurts!

As if my brain is burning!

'Damn, does using this [vision] overload the brain?'

I quickly sealed the acupoints of Jeon Myeong-hoon, who was rushing at me, quickly deactivated [vision], and put him to sleep with sleep-inducing herbs.

There was pain the moment I activated [vision], but I ignored it.

However, as the usage time extended, the pain intensified, eventually feeling like my brain was burning.

'The time I used [vision] in the scuffle with Jeon Myeong-hoon was mere moments, and yet the pain is this intense...'

What's the problem?

After pondering for a while, I calmed my still-confused colleagues, took them to a cave, lit a fire, cooked fruits and grilled mushrooms, and put them to sleep.

After the sun set and all my colleagues were asleep, I sat outside the cave and organized my thoughts.

"Let's sort out what 'Pinnacle Realm' is all about."

The Pinnacle Realm essentially overloads the brain to visualize and read the opponent's path of combat.

Even for a blind person, if they can read the opponent's path, two colors vividly appear in their mind, as if experiencing it.

It's more than visualization; it's like my brain arbitrarily colors the paths I foresee in blue and red.

"Using this vision, I can read every movement of my opponent and target their vulnerabilities with the optimal path."

This is why, in my past life, Kim Young-hoon's constant application of maximized senses to me seemed like an 'imitation of the Pinnacle Realm.'

I indirectly calculated the opponent's path by maximizing the senses.

But due to my lack of talent, I only awakened to this Pinnacle Realm at the very end, despite having imitated it.

"Amazing."

Once again, I looked at the world through the vision of the Pinnacle Realm.

Watching the leaves fall at night, I envisioned the blue lines.

Hundreds, thousands of blue threads appeared, directed at the leaves.

I grabbed a nearby branch and swung it towards the leaves.

The branch was blunt, not even shaped like a sword.

Even the leaves, fresh and fluttering in the night breeze, were not easy targets.

Yet, the moment I struck the leaves with the branch, following the optimal path the blue lines showed, they were sliced.

Crack!

The leaves were cut cleanly in half by the blunt branch, not imbued with any internal energy.

On the first day of my regression in my previous life, I had briefly reached this state.

I was unconscious then, but now my consciousness is clear.

I stood up, holding the branch, and danced with it as if it were a sword.

As I danced amidst the fluttering leaves, they all were cut by the branch.

Swish, swish!

Countless sword strokes pierced the leaves.

Thousands of optimal paths extended before my eyes.

I closed my eyes, imagining the fluttering leaves as first-rate masters.

With no internal energy and only a slightly thick branch in hand, could I defeat so many first-rate masters?

"I can win!"

First-rate masters, each armed with their weapons, charged at me.

Spears, swords, hidden weapons, maces, polearms, fists, lances, broadswords, and countless other weapons assaulted me.

But I wasn't afraid.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Continuously dancing with my sword, I dodged the first-rate masters' weapons and linked the optimal sword paths.

With my single sword stroke, their techniques were dismantled, their balance destroyed, and all were defeated.

"Haa..."

When I opened my eyes, there were numerous split leaves around me.

Drip...

Despite the nosebleed and the burning sensation in my brain from using the vision, I felt exhilarated.

"I am now a peak master!"

I stopped the nosebleed with a medicinal herb, then wandered around digging up centuries-old yellow bamboo roots.

"Perhaps the inability to maintain the vision for long is due to the lack of internal energy."

A certain level of internal energy is necessary to endure and extend the duration of the vision.

After digging up the roots, I chewed and swallowed them right there, leaving only a few for Kim Young-hoon.

Now that I had ascended to a peak master, there was no need to sell them.

"Yellow bamboo roots... I'll leave just a couple for Kim Young-hoon and consume the rest."

There were about ten roots around my vicinity in Ascension Path, and probably more if I expanded my search, but it wasn't necessary.

I consumed eight yellow bamboo roots, excluding the two for Kim Young-hoon.

Gurgling...

Guided by the Dragon Vein Qi Method, the immense spiritual power of the yellow bamboo roots surged through my meridians.

Whew...

An immense reserve of internal energy accumulated in an instant.

I had more internal energy now than in my previous life, where I had practiced for 50 years.

"Shall I try again?"

Aided massive internal energy, I activated the peak master's vision again.

I practiced with the vision for about an hour with no significant issues.

The burning discomfort started after about a meal's time.

"That's my limit, about an hour and a half."

No matter how much internal power I had, it only delayed the onset of pain; it didn't eliminate it.

"The only way is to repeatedly train using the peak master's vision."

To reduce the burning pain and gradually acclimate my brain to the vision.

"Endless training is the answer."

I might not be a genius, but this is the best way for someone not born with talent.

This life's goal is to first overcome the burning pain when using the peak master's vision and ultimately...

"Three Flowers Gather at the Summit...!"

To reach the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, also known as the pinnacle of pinnacle.

"I won't aim for the Five Energies Converging to the Origin realm in this life. The Three Flowers Gather at the Summit is already challenging enough."

The realm of Three Flowers was somewhat graspable.

As the supreme elder of Qia River Sect said, "The third."

Red symbolizes the enemy's intent; blue, my intent.

Besides these, there is a 'third' color, the line that separates the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit from the rest of the Pinnacle Realm.

The third.

"Though I can't quite grasp what it is."

The leap from first-rate to peak felt insurmountable, but reaching the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit from the peak seems slightly easier.

Smiling, I looked at Kim Young-hoon, sleeping in the cave.

"Surely, I'll be able to learn much more from him now."

Having reached the peak, the level of teaching I could receive from Kim Young-hoon would be incomparable to when I was just a first-rate master.

Moreover, I possessed the six volumes of insights and the final formula left by the previous Kim Young-hoon.

This life's Kim Young-hoon will certainly surpass the one from before!

"I, too, in this life, will achieve the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit and get closer to being a true cultivator!"

With that resolution, I peacefully watched the rising morning sun in front of the cave.